1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to beverage dispensers and more particularly to beverage dispensers with faucet assemblies for manual dispensing of beverage from the bottom of the dispenser body and to faucet guards of such faucet assemblies
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Beverage dispensers of the type with a hollow body for containing the beverage and a base for supporting the body above a support surface such as a counter top and which also have a manually operated faucet for dispensing beverage from the bottom of the hollow body are well known. In known hot beverage dispensers, such faucets are connected to a horizontal, radial, faucet pipe extending outwardly from a lower portion of a dispenser housing located beneath the bottom of the hollow body. The faucet pipe is connected to a vertical drainpipe that extends downwardly from an outlet at the lowermost surface of the bottom of the hollow body. Both the faucet pipe and the drainpipe are generally made of relatively rigid, stainless steel or other like metal alloy or other material that is relatively rigid and self-supporting and which is impervious to hot corrosive liquids and steam. Unfortunately, in known hot drink dispensers, the connection between the stainless steel drainpipe and the stainless steel faucet pipe is made by means of separate connection such as a flexible, resilient and generally non-rigid tube made of plastic or the like. Disadvantageously, known non-integral connection between the drainpipe and the faucet pipe presents some problems of cleaning and durability.
Also, in known hot beverage dispensers, the faucet is connected to the outwardly extending, horizontal, faucet pipe by means of a faucet inlet pipe within which is received the faucet pipe and secured by means of mechanical fasteners. The mechanical fasteners, such as bolts or screws, require tools, sometimes special tools to unfasten the faucet from the faucet pipe, as is needed from time to time for purposes of cleaning. Periodic cleaning easy cleaning of the faucet, the faucet pipe, the drain pipe, the U-shaped connecting tube, the interior of the hollow body and the outer surface of the housing supporting and enclosing the hollow, and generally insulated body, is necessary for health purposes. Unfortunately, because of the difficulty of removing the faucet from the faucet pipe this is done less frequently than may be desired. The drainpipe and the faucet pipe are cleaned by using hot water and manually brushing the inside surface of the pipes. While the pipes are relatively impervious to this mechanical brushing, the U-shape tube can be struck with the end of the brush and damaged. Generally, the U-shaped tube is prone to wear and deterioration while the stainless steel tubes are not.
In accordance with the beverage dispenser and method of the present invention the aforementioned problems and disadvantages of the known beverage dispensers.
This is achieved in part by providing in a hot beverage dispenser having a hollow body having a top, bottom, an enveloping side wall extending between the top and the bottom and a base for supporting the bottom above a support surface with a manually removable faucet assembly having an outlet pipe connected to the bottom of the hollow body and having a generally horizontal section that extends outwardly from the enveloping side, a faucet with a faucet shank for mating overlapping connection with the horizontal section, a faucet latch member carried by the faucet shank, and a mating outlet pipe latch assembly for releasable latching engagement with the faucet latch member to releaseably lock the faucet shank to the outlet pipe by selectively preventing separation of the shank from the outlet pipe.
Preferably, the entire outlet pipe is entirely made of stainless steel or other like metal, and has a generally vertical section connected to the bottom of the hollow body, and an elbow section interconnecting the generally vertical section with the horizontal section. The vertical section, the elbow section and the horizontal section are integrally formed together from a single piece of metal pipe. The faucet shank includes an annular slot facing outwardly from a free end of the faucet shank joined to an inwardly facing cylindrical slot communicating between an interior end portion of the annular slot and the interior of the faucet shank, and an O-ring fitted within the outwardly facing annular slot and partially extending inwardly into the interior of the faucet shank for sealing engagement with the outlet pipe when received within the faucet shank.
Preferably, the blocking member has a radially outwardly facing rotary latch receiving slot, and the latch member has a radially inwardly facing rotary latch connector for sliding mating receipt within the rotary latch receiving slot. A rotary latch connector has a pair of resilient, radially extending, generally parallel latch fingers with free ends having cam surfaces for engagement with opposite sides of a rotary latch receiving slot to push the fingers together during insertion into the rotary latch receiving slot.
The objective is also achieved with respect to the known faucet guard assemblies by providing a beverage dispenser of hot beverage with a hollow body having a top, bottom, an enveloping side wall extending between the top and the bottom and a base for supporting the bottom above a support surface, with a faucet assembly having an outlet pipe connected to the bottom of the hollow body and having a generally horizontal section that extends outwardly from the enveloping side, a faucet with a faucet shank for connection with the horizontal section and a nozzle with a distal downwardly facing opening, a faucet guard with a generally horizontal section secured to the bottom with an opening horizontally aligned with the distal downwardly facing opening and having a lowermost guard surface located at or beneath the distal downwardly facing opening to prevent snagging of the faucet nozzle from beneath the nozzle, and an upturned section in front of the faucet. Preferably, the upturned section is transparent.
This objective is also achieved by providing a beverage dispenser with a hollow body having a top, bottom, an enveloping side wall extending between the top and the bottom and a base for supporting the bottom above a support surface with an outlet pipe connected to the bottom of the hollow body and having a generally horizontal section that extends outwardly from the enveloping side, a faucet with a faucet shank for connection with the horizontal section and a nozzle with a distal downwardly facing opening, a faucet guard with a generally horizontal section secured to the bottom with an opening horizontally aligned with the distal downwardly facing opening and having a lowermost guard surface and an upturned section in front of the faucet that is at least partly transparent to enable viewing of the nozzle adjacent the distal downwardly facing opening. Preferably, the upturned section has means for mounting of a label carrying member.
In one form of the faucet guard, instead of being made from transparent material, is made of interconnected elongate frame members shaped in the configuration of a guard and the nozzle end is visible through the space between the members. A horizontal section of the faucet guard is defined by a plurality of the elongate members arranged in a plane and the lowermost surface is defined by the plane defined by lowermost surfaces of the elongate members defining the horizontal section are located beneath the lowermost surface of the faucet nozzle. The faucet guard also preferably includes an upturned section in front of the faucet with a cross bar member supported by two generally vertical members. The cross bar member and the two generally vertical supporting members define a plane that is tilted inwardly toward the faucet to facilitate viewing of the bottom of the nozzle underneath the cross bar member and between the two generally vertical supporting members.